


Angel's Fall

by Rinkafic



Series: Angel 'verse [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Angels, M/M, Stargate Atlantis AU, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-05
Updated: 2011-10-05
Packaged: 2017-10-24 08:33:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/261280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rinkafic/pseuds/Rinkafic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Evan Lorne is a Protector, trying to get out of the business.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angel's Fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [clwilson2006](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clwilson2006/gifts).



Lorne had drawn another assignment, despite his hopes that the last time out he had done enough, that he had earned his way back down. But when he had returned to the Sanctum after the holiday he had been entitled to take after ten concurrent assignments - spent traipsing around the Greek islands in the sunshine, admiring the blue seas of the Aegean - there was a key waiting for him on the marble table just inside the foyer. His shoulders had slumped and he walked forward, lifted the key and fingered the small tag engraved with his sigil.

A noise behind him drew his attention and he turned to see Cecelia, the local chapter supervisor approaching with an odd little smile on her face. “Welcome back, Lorne, how were the islands?”

“Just as lovely as ever. I want to paint them. I wish I could stay there and paint them,” his voice was wistful as he stared up at the stained glass windows lining the main entry room of the Sanctum. He wished Cecelia hadn’t been here, she knew him too well, knew how badly he yearned to be done and go back, more so than any other Protector now serving in this chapter, as far as he knew.

“We go where we’re told, you know that, Lorne,” Cecelia eyed the key and gave him another indecipherable smile. Lorne had met Cecelia so many, many years ago, when he had first been assigned to this chapter, when his life as a starving artist in France had finally come to an end. He had been drawn to her beauty; her round cheeks, big dark eyes, full lips and flawless creamy coffee complexion had made his fingers itch for the brush, to paint her. He had finally gathered up the courage to ask her to pose for him when one of their after-assignment holidays overlapped. She had agreed and they had been friends ever since. He considered the dark beauty to be his sole confidant.

Lorne shrugged. “I’d hoped… I thought maybe I’d earned my way. That last time was hard, it took a lot out of me CeCe, I’ve always hated the military assignments, they end badly so very often.”

“You’ve shown an aptitude for those types of assignments, Lorne,” she replied and tilted her chin towards the key in his hand. “Your experience will serve you well on your next assignment, your cover is prepared, the insertion should go quite smoothly.”

“I’m protecting another soldier?” Lorne dangled the key between his fingers and pulled a face.

“Not this time. But you will be assuming a military cover persona.”

He rolled his head and tried not to show his complete and utter irritation at the duty as he recited the Chapter’s motto in response, having nothing better to say. “To protect is to serve, to serve is to have purpose.”

But Cecelia knew him and cuffed his shoulder lightly. “You’re already familiar with the basics this time, you’re going back to an established persona, into a situation where you will not need much briefing. Go and read through the dossier, it should take you no time at all to get ready, meet me in the embarkation lounge when you’re ready to use the key.”

Lorne nodded and clutched the token in his hand as he wondered why he had been passed over yet again. His reviews had been exemplary, his superiors had all said he was ready, it was time, he could go back. But still, each time he returned to the Sanctum, a key waited, and he was sent out into the field again. Another Protector might begin to doubt, might begin to shirk in their duties, but Lorne was determined to continue on as he had been, to do his best.

He needed to earn his way back. He turned sideways to edge his way past Cecelia, but still managed to bang the leading edge of his right wing on the doorframe. He let out a hiss of pain, it was the same spot he always hit on the Sanctum doorframes, every time he tried to get through them. “They didn’t make these doorways big enough when they built the place.”

“If you were more patient and waited for other people to finish crossing through, you wouldn’t have such a problem. Let me see, lean down,” Cecelia reached a slim hand up towards the bruised feathers, running her fingers through when he leaned over enough for her to do so. The pain subsided as she tossed a bit of healing energy at him and he sucked in his lip to keep a happy little moan of contentment from slipping out. It bothered CeCe when he made what she called “sex noises” at her.

“Go on, my impatient one, your charge awaits.”

He left her and strode through the corridors, which were plenty wide and high enough for him to traverse without tucking his wings close to his body. He nodded in greeting to other Protectors gathered around the Reading Room and collected the book with his sigil engraved on it from the center table. He decided to lean at one of the bars to read, he wasn’t in the mood to deal with the complex contortions it would take to get comfortable in a chair with his wings. It was his least favorite part of being at Sanctum, the resumption to his natural form. He preferred the physical form he used when he was Earthside, one that was basically drawn on his original body, from Before. The wings looked impressive, and were necessary for getting from place to place outside the buildings here, but they really did get in the way at times. Lorne had never been truly comfortable with them.

CeCe had once accused him of hating the wings because they symbolized what he was, what he wanted so desperately not to be any longer. When he had tried to argue with her, she’d come back with the question, “And where’s your halo, Lorne? If you aren’t hiding from your nature, why do you conceal it?” He had no answer for that.

He opened his book and began flipping through the pages. When he figured out which persona it was that they were sending him back in, he rolled his eyes and muttered, “These people again. Don’t they ever stay out of trouble?”

 

~*~ 

 

“Sir? Major? Can you hear me, sir?”

Someone was hitting him in the face, and it hurt. “Huh? What?”

“I need a medic!” a voice screamed out over his head. He closed his eyes again, the light had been bothering him, and everything was blurry, anyway.

“Major, you took a pretty big jolt; I need to ask you some questions. Do you know who I am, sir?”

He cracked his eye open and attempted to identify the man leaning over him. “Stackhouse?”

“Got it in one, very good, sir. No, no, don’t close your eyes; the next one is a visual. How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Two.”

“You’ve done this before. How ‘bout a name, rank, and social?”

“Major Evan Lorne, 999-69-0011 – what happened?”

Capable hands lifted him into a sitting position and helped him lean back against a wall. “You touched that Ancient thing, and it kicked over instantly, we had a big light show and then you got flung across the room. Sir, you smell slightly singed, if you don’t mind my saying, a bit like burnt hair.”

Stackhouse reached a hand up and started to run his fingers along Lorne’s head, but the Major swatted him away. It wasn’t hair Stackhouse smelled, it was feathers. The less inspection the Sergeant did, the better, Lorne wasn’t certain he could hold the Glamour. He had to get somewhere private, where he could rest and heal up, and the Atlantis infirmary was really not the place he wanted to be to do that. He tried to take stock of his injuries, hoping it didn’t require a trip to the medical professionals.

“Damned stupid Ancients,” Lorne could say that, the Ancients HAD been damned, in a way. But he could hardly tell anyone what he knew of the dearly departed Ancients without breaking a whole passel of rules against Divulging Secrets. “I’m fine, Stackhouse, stop fussing. Is the rest of the team okay? I want to go home.”

The Sergeant nodded and leaned in to help Lorne get to his feet. They could hear shouting coming down the hallway towards the room they were in. “What do you mean it isn’t serious, from what you’re telling me, he got electrocuted!”

David Parrish stormed into the room, his eyes darting around until he located Evan, leaning heavily on Stackhouse’s arm. Evan gave him a sheepish smile and a tiny wave. “Hi, Doc.”

“Hi, Doc? You idiot, you nearly fried yourself!” His team’s scientist hustled over and slid one arm around Lorne, taking half the burden from Stackhouse. They carried Lorne slung between them, which Evan decided was a good thing, because his legs seemed to have ceased in their primary function of holding him up, and he doubted they would be of any use in locomotion in their current state.

“I don’t feel so good,” Lorne blurted as they got within a few hundred feet of the Gate. “I really don’t feel so good. Stop, I think I’m gonna hurl.”

Stackhouse dropped his arm and quickly stepped away from the potential splash zone, leaving Parrish to hold Lorne as he hunched over and retched painfully into the high grass beside the small trail they were following. David rubbed small circles over Evan’s back, which was actually more of a nuisance than a help, as it mean Lorne had to concentrate that much harder on maintaining the Glamour so the botanist’s hand wouldn’t encounter his wings. “I’m okay. I’m okay, Parrish, stop pounding on my back!” He hissed out impatiently.

The hand was quickly lifted and Parrish’s tone was hurt, “Sorry, sorry. I’m just trying to help.”

Lorne felt bad, but he needed the hands off him, non-divulgence of his secret was of higher priority than David’s feelings at the moment, the emotional bruising was not fatal, he wasn’t shirking his duty by snapping at David to chase him off a bit.

Being injured was one of the drawbacks to assuming a persona, while he was still immortal and couldn’t be truly killed on this plane, this half-form he was wearing could still be wounded and healing took time and energy. Masking everything from Beckett and the medical staff would draw energy better utilized in healing his injuries, though sometimes the doctors actually helped, so it was best to go along and let himself be treated in the infirmary. Lorne let Stackhouse and one of the guards in the Gate Room lift him gingerly onto a gurney and kept his mouth shut, not complaining as he was put through Beckett’s paces.

 

~*~ 

 

“You feeling better?” David stuck his head through the privacy curtains Lorne had requested be put up around his bed, just in case he slipped and the Glamour fell.

He beckoned his charge inside and gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “I’m fine, Doc. Just a little fried around the edges, sorry about the barf.”

“You had me worried, you never get sick.” Parrish fussed with the blankets on the end of the bed, avoiding Evan’s eyes.

“Everybody gets sick, Doc. I just don’t make a habit of puking all over my teammates.” Not an outright lie, just a little sidestep. He hadn’t gotten sick in almost three hundred years, not since his mortal body had curled up and died in a pauper’s hovel in Lyon. The Ancient device had really hit him hard, whatever the damned thing was. “Did the planet get flagged as a danger for ATA positives?”

“Yeah, McKay wants to go back, but Weir put her foot down about Sheppard going there, she insists having one of you in the infirmary at a time is one too many.”

Lorne nodded in agreement. “Hey, wanna do me a favor, Doc?” He crooked a finger at the botanist.

“Sure,” David’s eyes brightened, curious, he moved closer to the bed.

“Run a diversionary maneuver for me while I bust out of here. I need to go back to my quarters, this place makes me itch.” He wasn’t lying, his wings were bothering him, he’d taken damage back there and needed to see if he could repair them himself. Calling the Sanctum for help if he was truly in need was allowed, but he hated the idea of doing that. He had not done so since his third assignment, when he’d accidentally gotten himself burned at the stake as a witch. He’d learned a lot since then. Calling for an intercession now could set back his release, he’d do anything to avoid that.

“Me? How?”

“Distract the nurses. Go and flirt with Sakura.”

Parrish made a face, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Not my type, she’s a girl.”

He didn’t need that confirmation of David’s preferences now; it was a distraction, a definite distraction. He wasn’t supposed to get involved in that way. But David had been a temptation, from the very start of this assignment. Lorne had not allowed himself to be tempted since becoming a Protector. He wondered if perhaps Parrish was a test, thrown in his path purposely to divert him, to add another century or two onto his service time because he was too weak to resist falling into a physical relationship with one of his charges.

“Doc, she doesn’t need to know that, just go make small talk while I’m busy escaping,” he made a shooing motion with his hands. Parrish rolled his eyes, brushed the hair back out of his eyes, straightened his uniform jacket and went out into the infirmary. When Lorne heard him talking to the duty nurse, Sakura, he threw his legs over the edge of the bed and crept through the curtains, edging his way along until he got to the main doors and freedom. It didn’t take him long to get to the residential wing.

As he entered his quarters, he mentally turned off the Ancient security monitor in the corner of the room, they worked only sporadically anyway, but there was no use taking any chances of being seen. He flopped facedown over the bed and let the Glamour go, for the first time since arriving on this assignment. The shift was agony. He grabbed for a pillow and buried his face in it, using it to muffle his screaming as the primaries unfolded and the coverts slid and ground against each other painfully, testament to the injuries he had sustained.

He must have blacked out. He opened his eyes when he felt a hand gently stroking over his head. A familiar voice coaxed soothingly, “Wake up, Evan.” It must be bad; CeCe never called him Evan, no one had called him Evan until he’d come here to Atlantis, he’d been Lorne for so long he’d almost forgotten his given name.

“I’m awake,” he mumbled with his face still buried in the soft down of the pillow.

“You frightened your charge. Quite badly. He prayed for an intercession on your behalf. It isn’t often that the Protector becomes the protected,” Cece’s hands were working over his wings, healing him.

“David?” he asked when he had breath enough to do so. Being in-between hurt, it really hurt, having a body capable of feeling pain.

He had not expected to hear his botanist answer, “I’m here, Major.”

Evan went still for a moment as shock washed over him. He raised his head and blearily looked up to see David standing in the corner of the room, David, who should most certainly not be here while he was in this revealed state of being. “Wha… how?”

“I came to check on you, I found you like this…” Parrish waved his hands to indicate Lorne’s wings, lying limply across Cecelia’s hands as she spread out each layer of feathers and healed as she moved along. “Your door opened for me.”

Of course it did, Evan had keyed the security to always open for David, in case his charge needed him. Pushing aside Parrish’s obvious confusion for the moment, explanations, accusations and recriminations would have to wait until later, Evan looked up at Celia, “What happens now?”

“The rules are quite clear about Accidental Divulgence, Lorne,” her voice was tinged with sadness as she looked over at Parrish. “He has seen too much to be unseen, his hands were on you when I arrived, he touched you in your natural state, his mind cannot be Clouded now.”

Parrish stepped forward, though he was obviously nervous, his voice was steady as he pointed to Lorne and explained to Cecelia, “It was quite apparent that he was hurt, there was blood everywhere, I was trying to figure out where all the blood came from, he’s my friend, I was trying to help,” he looked helplessly at Evan. “And then she showed up.”

Cecelia tilted her head and gazed at the botanist as she declared quietly, “It is that blood that has sealed your fate, David Parrish.”

Lorne had struggled to sit up, painfully pulling his wing out of CeCe’s grasp, though it hurt like hell to move. “What fate? What are you planning to do to him?”

“This assignment is at an end, he is no longer in your charge. Parrish shall be taken into service; he shall be made a Protector.”

“NO!”

David looked at Evan, panic warring with the confusion in his eyes as he looked at Evan’s wings, and then over at Cecelia, sitting serenely with a golden glow over her face, wings and hands as she made the dire pronouncement. “What does she mean, Evan?”

“Not him. You can’t have him. I won’t allow it.” Despite his injured wings, Evan bolted to his feet, putting himself between David and Cecelia. His back tensed as he clenched the muscles there, his wings spread as widely as possible within the confines of the room as he towered over Cece. His face darkened and he thrust one hand out with intent; at his mental command, his soulsword shimmered into existence, the extension of his halo, a weapon forged from his own being.

“You would fight me?” Cecelia asked, then quirked an eyebrow at him as she got up from the bed and stood regarding him thoughtfully.

“On this, I would. You may not have him.”

“Why?”

Lorne blinked. He hadn’t thought about this, he’d just acted instinctively. Belatedly he realized was threatening his superior, his best friend on the other plane, over a sanctioned action on behalf of the Sanctum. His sword was drawn; it was too late to take that back, his course was decided, should Cecelia take him up on the challenge. The next words he spoke might seal his fate, but he said them anyway. “He is mine.”

The smile briefly crossed Cecelia’s face might have been telling, if Lorne had not been looking back over his shoulder at David in the moment when it happened. “He has Knowledge now.”

“Others have Knowledge, there are other ways to serve, you don’t need to make a Protector of him.” Evan searched his memory for the proper form of petition, which he couldn’t completely remember; he’d have to fudge it. “I demand, First Protector Cecelia Devereaux, that you take me instead. I will serve; I will serve the time for David Parrish.”

Cecelia had not drawn her sword, instead she had crossed her arms as she spoke casually of this life changing, life ending matter. If Evan lost this, if she denied his plea, David would die; his mortal life would be over, until he could earn his way back down to the mortal plane through years of service as a Protector. “You were nearly out, nearly done. This was to be your last assignment.”

Evan’s heart fell at that news, he had been so close. But it would mean nothing to him to have his freedom if Parrish had to pay the cost for blundering into Lorne’s secret. “It doesn’t matter. Don’t make me fight you, Cecelia, please. Just take me instead, I’m offering, I’ll submit willingly, let David go.”

“I shall have to discuss this matter with the Sanctum Triumvirate. Your wing injuries are severe, Lorne, it would be best for you to shift completely for a time to allow them to heal. You will be of no use as a Protector with such wounds. Damn the Ancients all over again for leaving their infernal devices out and about to cause such troubles! Put your sword away, Lorne, you are wasting energies. You shall stay here while I bring the matter to the Triumvirate. You may explain things to David, since I believe full Disclosure will happen regardless of the outcome, and no further damage can be done with more Knowledge.”

Lorne let the sword return to the nether plane. “You’re leaving me here?”

“Don’t look so happy, you’re not healed, and you’ve barely the energy to mend a hangnail. So don’t let yourself get hurt, you’ll have no way of healing any additional injuries you sustain. Intercession might not come quickly enough to save you. This is temporary, Lorne, you have a day at most. Conceal yourself here.” She reached a hand out to cup Lorne’s cheek and looked deeply into his eyes for a moment before she smiled lightly and released him. “Look after him, David Parrish; you may consider this a test of your potential as a Protector.”

Parrish nodded; ready to agree to anything that sounded like he could get out of whatever trouble Lorne apparently thought he was in. Cecelia waved her hands around Lorne’s body and he suddenly slumped, going to his knees as if he were a puppet with his strings cut. Parrish followed him down, one arm going around Lorne’s middle, supporting him, keeping him upright as he fought for breath as the shift happened, as Lorne became fully his immortal self once more.

Crumpled, in pain, Evan’s head fell forward and he felt himself losing consciousness. The last thing he heard was CeCe saying in a oddly kind tone of voice, “Do not fear, David Parrish, your warrior is stronger than you know, stronger than even he knows.”

 

~*~ 

 

Evan opened his eyes to see David sitting on the bed beside him, staring down at him. “Aren’t you afraid of me?”

Parrish lifted one shoulder gracefully. “No.”

That surprised him. David seemed fairly comfortable already in his presence, despite the huge gray wings in the room. “I guess I owe you an explanation?”

“Ah, now the answer to that would be a resounding Yes, Major! Please, enlighten me.”

“Did you have to say enlighten? That’s in really bad taste, since that’s the root of the problem.”

“The problem being that I know you’re a… a… what the hell are you, Major?”

He rested his chin on his crossed arms, watching David as he replied, “Lorne, or Evan, please. I’m a Protector. I was supposed to be here to keep you safe during a time when your life was in flux, when there was a danger to both your life and your soul.”

“And you didn’t do that?”

“Nope. I failed, big time. That stupid-ass Ancient device really did a number on me; I should have called for help, for an Intercession on my own. If I hadn’t been so stubborn, you wouldn’t have stumbled in here and found me like you did.”

David’s eyes flickered to Evan’s back. “You have wings. You fly?”

“Yeah. Not now, I’m too banged up. It’s harder on this plane, but I can if I need to, if I shift.”

Apparently unable to resist, Parrish reached over and trailed his fingers along the edge of Evan’s wing, tracing the line of pale gray feathers until he came to a spot coated in the tacky scarlet of drying blood. “You’re a mess. Can you get these wet?”

“Yeah. I should probably shower,” Evan slid over and awkwardly pushed up, getting to his feet with David’s help.

As he shuffled over towards the bathroom, David asked hesitantly, “Are you an angel?”

“Not as such, no. Protectors are the lowest class of heaven’s servants. I was mortal once, like you. After I died, I became a Protector. I was promised that I could return to this plane if I served out my time and did a good job.”

“How much time?”

“Different for everyone, lots of stuff factors in. Oh, crap. Doc, can you…” Evan held out a hand as he wobbled unsteadily on his feet, finding only open air as he flailed for balance. David scooted over and ducked under his arm, holding him up.

Parrish propped him up against the bathroom wall and went over to turn the shower on. “How long have you been like this, been a Protector?”

“Three hundred years, give or take.”

The overhead intercom speaker buzzed and Beckett’s voice came over it, “Major Lorne, please contact the infirmary.”

“Here,” David pulled off his own earbud and handed it to Evan.

Anticipating an argument, Evan winced as he tapped the line open to the medical channel. “This is Lorne.”

“You’re a wily little bugger, aren’t you? I’m of half a mind to send a few marines to fetch you.”

“I’m fine, Doctor Beckett, really. I’m just gonna take a shower and hit the sack. I promise.”

Beckett made a squawking noise. “No, lad, you shouldn’t be doing that alone after the bang to your noggin like you took, you wait, I’ll send someone down.”

“I’m not alone, Doctor Parrish is with me.”

“Put him on.”

Evan handed the comm back to David, who nodded and made noises before clicking it off. “You’re not allowed to shower alone, I’m supposed to stay.”

This was an unexpected development. The object of his affections, was volunteering to help him shower. Lorne had come to realize that he did indeed bear more than a little affection for the botanist, cared quite a bit more than he was supposed to care about his charge. “Are you sure? I can just dunk myself under and get right out.”

David shook his head, “Don’t be silly, you’re covered in blood, it won’t come off with a little rinse, you need a scrub. I don’t see anyone else capable of that around here, do you?” Evan’s mouth went dry as David pulled his shirt off and tossed it aside, then shucked his pants, before crossing naked to help Evan out of the scrub pants he was still wearing.

“Where’d all the blood come from?” David asked as he picked pieces of what had been the scrub top Evan had been wearing from between his wings.

“During the shift. I’m usually only partially on this plane, and partially connected to the other realm. When I changed over to my true form so I could tend the injuries, my body morphed, the blood sorta comes along with the physical change.”

“On a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in right now, Evan?”

He forced his eyes to look anywhere but at the nude man touching him, stripping him, David’s use of his name did not go unnoticed, and did not leave him unaffected. “About a three, maybe four. I’m just really weak. I look worse off than I am, CeCe healed me up more than she was letting on.”

Parrish pushed him towards the shower, luckily the Atlantis bathrooms were an open-plan, the whole room was tiled and waterproof, so there was plenty of room for Evan to get under the multiple sprayers and even spread out his wings a little. “Baby shampoo?” Parrish asked as he picked up the distinctive golden bottle.

“Better than dish soap, and easier to requisition from the quartermaster.” Evan said as he shrugged and then smirked as he added, “Soft and gentle, it makes me fluffy.”

“Turn around, let me get at the gory bits, Mr. Fluffy,” David gestured, spinning his finger. Evan obliged and soon felt David’s strong fingers working the shampoo through the primaries down to where the wings joined the muscles of his back. The strong hands felt good on him, it had been so long since anyone other than CeCe had touched him in more than a perfunctory manner during the course of his duties. Even sparring with Ronon held a certain appeal, the physical contact with a living being soothed Evan in a way he could never find the words to explain to anyone.

He leaned forward, bracing his forearms against the wall as David ministered to him. “Spead your legs,” David said, nudging at Evan’s knee with one of his own to get him to comply. Even out of context, the phrase sent a sharp dart of heat directly to Evan’s groin.

“Why?” he asked raggedly, not letting David move his leg, as he was trying to do.

David huffed in irritation. “You’ve got shmutz all down your ass; you want to wake up itchy and stinky?”

He did as directed, and couldn’t hold in the whimper of pleasure as David’s shampoo slicked fingers slid down the crack of his ass, soaping him up. “Hand me the washcloth over there.”

Evan tossed it back over his shoulder, and moments later, he felt gentle strokes across his glutes. David’s fingers spread him and he was carefully washed clean. The tenderness David was showing him was Evan’s undoing. He dropped his forehead onto his arms, trying to get some control over himself, and failing miserably. His cock was swollen and heavy against his belly, throbbing with need. He had not been in such a state since Lyon. He whimpered again as David’s fingers trailed up the outside of his thigh.

“Am I hurting you?”

“No. God, no. The opposite. I’m sorry.”

David’s hand stopped, the washcloth now resting on his hip. “Sorry?”

In low tones, Evan replied, “For all of this, for getting you into trouble, for failing to protect you, for getting all worked up when you’re just trying to help me out.”

Parrish grabbed his shoulder and forced Evan to turn around and face him. He glanced down at the evidence of the Protector’s arousal and then back up at Evan’s face. He smiled shyly and took a step closer, so that his breath mingled with Evan’s. “The first time we went on an away mission, when you grabbed me and dragged me through the woods, I nearly came in my pants just from having your hand on me. I thought you were straight. I watch you, you know, when you’re not looking. You’re so beautiful.” David’s fingers came up and he stroked Evan’s cheek, from his brow down the side of his face and then down his neck.

“I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t mean for you to know. I never meant for you to find out. I never thought you would welcome any attention from me beyond the friendship of a teammate,” David’s eyes were locked on his now, as his hands roamed down, his hands sketching circles on Evan’s chest, slick from the water beating down over his shoulders.

Evan reached up and cupped David’s cheek, “I never… I’m not supposed to get involved. I never cared so much for one of my charges as I do for you, David.”

“You don’t pull flaming swords out of thin air and challenge your boss to a duel for everyone?”

Lorne chuckled, mildly amused that they were having this conversation in the shower, off all places. “Hardly. I haven’t cared for anyone in centuries, David, not beyond their general well being.”

“You care about me?”

“Yeah.”

“You told the scary angel lady that I was yours.”

Looking into David’s hope filled eyes, Evan replied, “Yeah. Mine.” He dipped his head and caught David’s damp lips with his own, pressing lightly, softly asking for more, begging for more.

David’s hands came up and he pushed back on Evan’s shoulders, breaking the kiss. Disappointed but not surprised, Evan lifted his head and looked into the bright blue eyes staring back at him. Not rejection there, but something else. “You’re hurt, Evan. I want… but this is a bad time for this,” Parrish waved his hand up and down between them. And Evan noticed for the first time that the interest was not all one sided.

“Shit.” It might be the only time, the only chance he’d ever get. “If Cecelia comes back to take you, there won’t be another time. I’ll be fine,” Evan’s hands snapped out and he seized David’s face and pulled him roughly forward, claiming his mouth in a bruising kiss.

The whimper came from Parrish this time, and he melted against Evan’s body, rubbing himself, grinding his groin against Evan’s hip. The water running down their bodies made for no friction, pure glide, all smooth movement. Soon it wasn’t enough, for either of them. They were panting, their soft caresses turning to hard stroking. Parrish let out a little yelp as he slipped on the tile and nearly toppled them both to the hard floor as he tried to regain his balance.

Laughing, he grabbed Evan’s hand and tugged him out from under the water and reached around with his free hand to turn off the flow. “Ok, Mr. Fluffy, I think your pinfeathers are clean enough. Let’s go play where it’s a bit safer, shall we?” Eying the bathroom counter, David grabbed a tube of hand lotion and gestured towards the other room.

“Wait, let me do something, or the bedroom will be flooded. You might want to stand back. Way back.”

Parrish took a few steps away, but was still concerned about Evan’s dubious balance. “What are you going to do?”

In reply, he turned his head, cracked his neck and then lifted one arm, focusing on muscle control in a way he did not usually have to do. He was able to fully open and extend his right wing, and then gave a mighty head to toe shake, sending water flying in all directions. He repeated the same with the left wing. He smirked at David and quipped, “Just like a duck.” Then he slipped on the wet floor and went careening into David, and they both crashed down in a heap.

“You’re dangerous,”David accused as he untangled himself from his Protector. “Come on, bedroom.”

Stupid and pliable with desire for his charge, and perfectly amenable being led, Evan allowed David to pull him up and draw him along into the other room. Once there, David put his arms around Evan’s neck, pulling him forward for a resumption of the kisses he had been enjoying earlier.

Their tongues entwined and fought for dominance, each taking in turn. Lips would be bruised on the morrow; there was much sucking and biting passing between them. Lorne’s hands were buried in the long layers of David’s hair, clutching as tightly as he could, as if by strength alone, he could keep his lover with him. His lover. God, he had not taken a lover since before Lyon.

He groaned and tried to press even closer to David than he already was. “More. Want more.”

 

~*~ 

 

Caught up in Evan’s iron grip, David was powerless to do much but allow the current assault on his mouth. Not that he minded, Evan Lorne in his arms had been a fantasy he had never imagined would come to pass outside his fevered dreams. This panting, demanding, whimpering-with-need Evan had never been a part of his fantasies. The reality of Evan in his arms far surpassed what he had concocted in his head.

He had enough leverage to push Evan back onto the bed, but he realized that would mean that both of their full body weights would be pressing down on Evan’s injured wings. He might be attempting to be stoic about the pain, but he was still hurting, he couldn’t hide it. Parrish knew how to read him, he had spent the last eight months intently studying Major Lorne, and he recognized pain when he saw it.

David turned and pulled Evan, so that when David fell back on the bed, Evan sprawled over him. As Evan’s weight hit him, he let out a little ‘woof!' Angelic or no, Evan still possessed the mass of a full grown man. When Evan would have rolled off, David stopped him. “Stay there. I’m fine; I can take it for a while.”

With a mild scowl, Evan looked at him, considering something. His eyes brightened and he beamed down at him as he worked out whatever had been going through his militant little mind. He snapped his fingers and pointed to the lotion that David still had clutched in his hand. David handed it over and then watched Evan squirt a large dollop out. His eyes followed the path of Evan’s hand as he reached for David’s swollen cock and slathered the lotion over it, stroking him gently as he did so. Lorne stared down, seemingly mesmerized by the motion of his own hand for a few moments.

“That feels really, really good, Ev.”

His voice broke Lorne out of his trance. “You’re so pretty. You’re all… shiny… and open… and colors…” Passion apparently muddled his mind a bit, Lorne wasn’t making much sense, but David didn’t care, this babbling Evan was adorable.

Lorne shrugged and then moved, straddling David’s hips. He reached down and grasped David’s cock in his hand and then shifted back, positioning himself so that the tip was pressed right up against his ass. Realizing what Evan was doing, David grabbed his arm, “Are you sure?”

Taking a deep breath, Evan nodded. “I want. Mine.” He pressed his hips back and down, impaling himself slowly on David’s cock. David gasped and held his breath, forcing himself to remain still, to act against the urge building within him to thrust up.

Parrish watched, fascinated by the concentration on Evan’s face, how his lip twisted slightly and his tongue poked out. He wanted to kiss him, he wanted nothing more than to surge up and grab Evan in his arms and kiss him. But he held back, letting Evan do the taking. When his lover was finally, finally settled, David’s cock embedded to the hilt, they both let out identical sighs. And smiled as they realized they had done so.

“Okay?” Evan asked.

“More than. You?”

“Oh, yeah. Gimmee a minute to adjust.”

David ran his hands up to touch Evan’s belly with his fingertips, stroking lightly as he waited patiently for his lover to start moving. Which he finally did. And something in David broke as he watched Evan’s head drop back, exposing the line of his throat, where David could see the pulse throbbing, matching the heartbeat he felt beneath his fingertips as Evan leaned forward and David’s hands slid up to cover his pecs, fingering the nipples that were now within reach.

Moaning, Evan sat back up and braced his hands on David’s shoulders as he fucked himself on David’s cock, rising up and then slamming back down repeatedly. When he leaned forward again, his wings fell forward, curtaining them in feathered privacy as Evan grunted out, “David, oh, God, David.”

David slid his hand down and took Evan’s cock in his hand as a wave of heat and pleasure drove him closer to the edge. He wanted Evan to come with him. He stroked, twisting and jerking quickly, as he did when he brought himself off when he was most desperate for release. It seemed to satisfy Evan, he bucked up into his hand, nearly unseating himself as he shouted David’s name.

“Damn, I’m close, I’m so fucking close,” David grunted, straining to hold out as he tugged on Evan’s dick.

“Me too. Me too, ‘m close.” Evan’s ass clenched around David as he shot his load, spraying David’s belly with stripes of hot cum. The sight of Evan climaxing sent David toppling after and he too came, pouring up into Evan’s body as his lover slumped forward, boneless, across him.

“Oh. My. God,” David grunted when he could breathe again.

Evan gave a muffled chuckle, his face pressed against David’s shoulder. “Nope, not even close, just a lowly level three Protector.”

“Goofball. That was more than I ever expected. Thank you, Evan.”

Turning his head, Evan kissed the side of David’s neck. “Thank you. I’ll hold the memory of this forever, David.”

David feathered his fingers through Evan’s hair and then trailed one hand down to stroke the downy softness of the wing he found. It should be weird, but it wasn’t. It was Evan.

Evan let the petting go on for a few minutes more and then he slid off to the side, curling up against David as much as he was able to with the girth of his wings taking up a good portion of the bed. As he drifted off to sleep he whispered, “Worth the trouble.”

His heart light and full, David slid out of the bed and went to get a washcloth. He cleaned himself up in the bathroom and then went to the bed and did the best he could with Evan. It was a warm night, too hot for blankets, so he twitched the sheet up over Evan’s waist leaving the wings uncovered. Uncomfortable sleeping in the nude, he grabbed a pair of clean shorts off the pile on Evan’s dresser and slid them on and then climbed back in bed beside his lover and went to sleep.

 

~*~ 

 

A cold sharpness against Evan’s throat woke him to the smell of brimstone that made his nostrils twitch. Demon. Damn it! He’d let his attention slip, his wards drop and now there was a fucking demon in his bedroom. Worse, David was sleeping beside him, unaware of the peril.

“Hello, jerk-face,” a blast of putrid breath washed over his face and venom dripped onto his cheek as the intruder leaned over him, pressing the blade until the skin broke along the edge and blood began to flow. “No barriers. You made it easy, so easy. And you smell so deliciously broken. I’m going to enjoy tearing you to pieces and swallowing you down.” The vile creature licked a forked tongue over thin lips.

Evan tried erecting a ward, but it was too late. The beast was in. And the security cameras were down, done by his own hand. He couldn’t use his ATA gene to alert Atlantis security either. He was well and truly screwed. And so was his charge. His eyes flicked over to see that David was either sleeping or feigning sleep.

“Up, I think, little bird. I want to play, I want you to watch.” Evan found himself grabbed up by the shoulders and hurled across the room, slamming painfully into the far wall, where he hung, suspended by the demon’s power.

“No,” Evan protested, dangling naked and helpless as the demon reached for David and hauled him out of the bed by his throat. Woken to a nightmare, David tried to scream, but he had no air to do so. The demon was strangling him.

“Stop. No. Please, stop,” Evan sobbed, helpless to do anything to protect David, completely failing in his primary duty.

The demon laughed and shook Parrish like a rag doll, his limbs fluttering as his air ran out and he began to suffocate. “Such a tiny little mortal, to be such a key. Why is it such a key, I wonder? Why do they want you, circle around you, watch you so intently, of all the other little bugs they could watch?” The demon held David out at arm’s length and considered him, as one might consider a new watch or a pair of shoes before buying them. Just as David began to turn blue, the demon hurled him to the floor.

David gasped for breath; his hands going to his abused throat as he stared up in horror at the nightmare come to life stalking towards him. A claw swiped out, cutting David’s cheek, gashing it open. The beast swiped the blood with one claw, sealing the wound again, and then raised the claw to lick out at the blood, tongue flickering, tasting, testing, learning.

“Let him go. He’s innocent, mortal. You have me.” There was only one thing left that Evan could possibly do to Protect his charge, to save David. The question was, was he willing to do it?

 

~*~ 

 

It was the second time that day that Evan had tried to trade places with him, and David didn’t like it any better this time than he had when Evan had said the words to Celia. Pinned to the wall, though he was able to move his arms and legs, Evan let loose a stream of curses in a language David did not recognize. There was a flash of light and the soulsword came into being. Evan’s eyes glittered in the light cast off by the sword. He raised his arm and flung the sword at the demon, screaming out in agony as he did so, as he literally hurled a chunk of his soul away, trying to protect David.

The soulsword merely nicked the demon’s hide, and was swatted aside to land on the floor, where the light began to leech away from it, the soulsword would die if separated from the maker for too long. The piece of soul it contained would die as well, unable to be recalled or remade, as it was an original piece of creation, and unique in the universe.

As the demon spun and went towards Evan, David frantically scanned the bedroom, the moon coming through the windows casting just enough light for him to see by. Evan’s comm was on the nightstand. Using his elbows to pull himself in a battlefield crawl, David went over to the bedside table and snatched the comm, and then spotted something else of possible use and picked that up as well.

He rolled over as Evan let out a guttural scream.

His eyes widened in horror as he saw that the demon had sliced Evan open from belly to throat, had thrust a clawed hand into Evan’s gut and was twisting it. David tapped the comm and said, in the calmest voice he could muster under the circumstances, drawing the demon’s attention to himself, “Intruder alert, Major Lorne’s quarters. Extreme medical emergency, Major Lorne’s quarters.” Then David raised the Glock he had found beside the radio, drew a bead on the beast’s forehead and fired until he had emptied the clip. The demon’s head exploded sometime around the third shot, but David had kept firing anyway.

Lorne slumped to the floor, blood pouring from the gaping wound in his middle. David grabbed the sheet from the bed and scurried over, pressing the cotton to the wound. “Don’t die. Evan, don’t die. Not like this, not now. Please don’t leave me. I’ll do anything, I swear, just don’t die, hold on, help is coming.”

The air in the room changed, grew warmer. There was a sound liked the fluttering of wings. A hand dropped onto David’s head and he looked up into the warm brown eyes of Cecelia. She cupped his chin as she regarded him. “Anything, David?”

“Yes. Help him, please. Take him back to where he needs to go to be healed. I’ll do whatever you want. Just help him, please.”

Cecelia’s voice seemed to echo with import as she asked, “You would trade places with him? You would take his place there, now, and bleed to death in his stead?”

It could happen. This being could make that happen. These were beings beyond his ken. She was quite likely going to do what she said she could do. “That thing came for me. It wanted me; it said I was the key. Evan tried to stop it.”

“He will end. His soulsword, his halo, is fading to oblivion,” she tossed her chin towards the fallen weapon. “I ask you now if you would take his place, David Parrish.”

Caressing Evan’s cheek, now slack and drained of color, David nodded. “Yes, do it. Switch us. Hurry, there isn’t much time.”

Cecelia crossed the room and stooped to lift Evan’s soulsword, which she held lightly and almost reverently in her hands for a moment before she came back and bent over Evan. She slid the smooth silver hilt into his hand, forcing his fingers closed around it. “I give you back your soul, dear one,” she leaned in and kissed Evan’s forehead. “Goodbye. I will miss you, my little artist.”

“What? No, you said…” David protested as Cecelia said goodbye to Evan.

Cecelia pressed a finger to David’s lips and made a shushing sound. She stroked the line the demon had made on David’s cheek, and he felt it cool. when his hand went to touch it, it was smooth and unblemished once again. She spread her hand out and ran it over the gaping wound on Evan’s chest and abdomen, and David saw that she was truly healing him. As she worked, she spoke. “You were the key, David. We searched for many, many years to find a soul worthy of a Protector, worthy of this particular Protector. He held himself separate for so long, we despaired of him ever finding the one that would complete him once more.”

David gasped as he saw first the soulsword and then Evan’s wings disappear, “You aren’t punishing him?”

“No, little plant lover. He earned his way. He earned this. He earned you.”

“But, you said I was to take his place.”

Cecelia grinned at him mischievously. “I said no such thing; I asked to judge your willingness. I merely needed to know if you were willing to make a sacrifice on par with the one Evan made for you when he threw his soulsword at the demon.”

“I don’t understand. He was willing to trade places with me, twice, he said so.”

“Yes. But the act of releasing the soulsword, of willingly cutting himself off from his soul forever was the action that proved his intent. He chose to die, permanently, in attempt to save you. It was the intent that mattered.”

Parrish crawled closer, resting his left hand on Evan’s cheek and stroking lightly with his fingers. “What happens now?”

Cecelia raised her hands, and David saw that the wounds were gone. “I give him over to your keeping, David Parrish. His memories of his time as a Protector shall fade over time. That is the Law, I cannot change that. The lives he led, the personas he took over the years shall be but a dream, a fancy in his mind. He is now as he once was, as he was when he came into service for the Sanctum, with his soul broken and shattered.”

“Will he remember me?” David asked; chewing his lip fearfully as Evan began to stir.

The First Protector smiled and shoved at David’s shoulder playfully. “Of course he will. He is and always has been Evan Lorne at the core, no matter what mantle he wore. This persona, this Air Force Major, is but one aspect of his being, facts pieced together by the Hierarchy from the tapestry of his service and molded into this persona that was inserted into your reality. He was not ready to return to this plane permanently until all those pieces were in place, until he was as close to the man that died so long ago in Lyon as we could bring him.

“You are the key, David. As the key, as a boon to repay you for your service in disposing of that vile stain on creation,” she wrinkled her nose and pointed at the corpse of the demon, I offer you a choice; remember or forget?”

He thought about it. “I choose to remember what Evan remembers, no more. It would not be fair any other way.”

“We chose wisely in trusting you,” she raised her fingers to his forehead, brushing his hair aside as she touched the center. “I take the Knowledge. But I leave the memories you have made here this night, with some minor alterations to remove the nature of the occurrences. You shall remember only an intruder, when the Atlantis Security forces and Colonel Sheppard burst in here in a few minutes. They shall find a Wraith, which attacked Evan, and you killed. The details are altered, but the facts remain. You saved your lover’s life this night, David.”

“You did that.”

“No. There is much you do not, you cannot know. You did save him tonight, just as he saved you once, in the past. But that is not my tale to tell. Perhaps someday, he will remember, and tell you a story. It is time for me to leave.” She leaned down and kissed Lorne’s forehead again as he opened his eyes and smiled up at her sleepily. “Have a happy life, Evan Lorne.”

She leaned over and kissed David’s forehead as well. “Take care of each other.”

There was a flash of light and noise and the door to Evan’s quarters slid open, Sergeant Stackhouse leading the charge, with Colonel Sheppard at the rear, all with their weapons drawn.

“We’ve got a dead Wraith over here, Colonel!”

“Clear!”

“Clear! Medical can come in.”

Beckett and a nurse scooted in as soon as the all clear was given, and the doctor knelt beside Evan, examining him as the Major roused and groggily replied to questions.

Sheppard crouched beside him and asked, “You okay, Doctor Parrish?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure what happened.”

The Colonel gestured at the Glock resting in Parrish’s lap. “I believe you blew away a Wraith, Doc. Nice shooting.”

“Is Evan all right?”

Beckett nodded. “Aye. I think it might just be residual effects from the shock he took earlier. He seems fine, if a little woozy.”

“Good thing you were here,” Sheppard remarked, taking in Parrish’s attire, the Air Force issued running shorts as well as Lorne’s distinct lack of any attire at all. Sheppard clearly wasn’t asking anything more. He waved the security team out, they left with the corpse of the Wraith and Sheppard followed soon after.

“See that he rests,” Beckett told Parrish as he too departed.

And then they were alone.

“I should be dead,” Evan whispered, looking at his hands in amazement as he sat on the edge of the bed, his arms resting on his knees. “I threw my soulsword. The demon gutted me. I should be dead. Why am I not dead?”

“You remember?”

Evan shrugged. “Bits and pieces. Was Cece here? I thought I saw Cece.”

“She was here,” David sat beside him and took his hand.

“They didn’t take you.”

David shook his head, squeezing his lover’s hand. His lover. That was still so new and so exciting, it made his heart clench. “They aren’t going to.”

“They’ll take me soon.”

David squeezed his hand again. “Look over your shoulder, Ev.”

Automatically, Evan did, and then looked at David with curiosity. “What?”

“Where are your wings?”

Understanding dawned and his eyes went wide. “I can’t feel my wings. I can’t feel my halo or my soulsword. What did they do to me, David?”

“They set you free. You earned your way, Cece said. I think this… I think I was your last test.”

“I’m mortal again,” Evan whispered. Then he looked up at David and smiled, a smile brighter than any David had even seen. “I’m mortal again!”

David nodded cautiously. Cece had given Evan over into his care, but that did not mean that Evan would wish to remain there. He was free now, he could go where he wanted, do what he wanted, make a new life for himself.

Evan opened his arms and threw them around David, squashing him as he squeezed tightly. “I don’t have to leave you. They can’t make me leave you.”

David pressed his face against Evan’s neck and smiled, realizing that his lover’s reward was also his.

And Evan was happy.

So David was happy.

 

The End


End file.
